Tales of celestial interactions with humanity and their anecdotes of an ecologically sustainable link with the earth that we inhabit makes Diwali a festival of celebration while instilling a deep rooted respect for the bounties the earth has to offer.

Narakachatureshi as per another legend also signifies the epic victory over the asur Narak engineered by Krishna through his consort Satyabhama thus circumventing a boon granting the demon enormous power.

Let us harken back to the legendary churning of the primordial ocean. Gujarat does claim a mythical link with the process as the carapace of Vasuki, the tectonic tortoise is according to local folk lore the land of Kachchh, hence the name. The churning of the ocean and its entwined tales form a gamut of symphonies by themselves. Dhanteras, prosperity, health and the origins of Ayurveda are a part of the bounty brought forth through the churning. According to legend, amongst the demi-gods and personifications that emerged rose Dhanvantri , holding aloft a chalice of Amrit, the elixir of perfect health therefore confused with the necter of immortality. As Ayurveda is a system of naturally induced herbal medication, most metals cause an adverse reaction due to its delicate decoctions with the exceptions of certain rare elements such as gold to store the Amrit in. This belief over the years convened into a symbolic purchase of gold in leu of the grail of Amrit.

In this is where is woven stories of myth with Vaasuki the lord of the Nagas(snakes) as the rope entwined around a mountain as a pestle balanced on the shelf of the primordial tortoise. Pivotally penduluming a churning operation between the devs and the asuras in an effort to jointly claim the bounties of a newly formed multiverse. Folk myth attributes the region of Kutch as the carapace of the celestial tortoise and hence its name. During the churning among the many emerging bounties came an aspect of Vishnu, the god of Ayurved, Dhanvantri, the forearmed one holding a loft a chalice of amrit, the absolute nectar of immortality both physical and spiritual. Thus Dhanteras is a salutation to the god of Ayurved, Dhanvantri. Some beliefs veer towards the worship of health while others to the purchase of wealth.

We thus come through convoluted twists and turns traversing valleys and rivulets of the collective human myth to the central mote in the eye of the festival vortex; Deepavali, the return of the lord Rama to Ayodhya, a festival of lights and magic and a celebration of all that is bright and good welcoming a profoundly prosperous future. The kingdom of Ayodhya bedecked herself as a virgin bride in all finery to welcome back Lord Ram after his return form exile and his triumphant battle over Ravan. Another legend deals with the sun of King Hemraaj whose son was destined to meet his death on his sixteenth birthday. The son’s wife in order to prevent this incident had the entire city lit up with lamps, colors, flowers and unguents. The royal be chamber was sealed with piles of precious gold, late at night when Yama, the god of death arrived to claim the young prince’s soul so bedazzled was he by this tremendous splendor of wealth and the devotion of the wife that he let the prince live. This then is another local myth woven within the lights and festivities of Diwali.

A dazzling display of sparkled festivity, a closure of the old and a fragrance of the new, a collective surge of positive energy coursing through a city revitalized in a cacophony of colours, sounds and a confluence of lights weaving a rhythm of renewed hope.
Published: Ahmedabad Mirror